April 11, 2016 - AUSTRALIA - A two-year-old girl has been bitten by a wild dog during a beach picnic on a holiday in Western Australia.

The Dwyer family were holidaying at the Kooljaman resort at Cape
Leveque, 220km north of Broome, on Friday evening when the attack
occurred.

Christine Dwyer, 27, said they were having an evening picnic on the
beach when the animal approached her daughter Stella and attempted to
steal her stuffed toy elephant.

Speaking to ABC News, Christine explained: "[Stella] tried to crawl away and was crying and it just ran back in and grabbed her on the lower back and buttock.

"It tried to drag her backwards but it only got maybe six inches."

Ms Dwyer said resort staff were walking down to the beach as the
incident occurred, adding: "They were very helpful, they continued to
shoo it away and took us up to the nurses to make sure she didn't need
any tetanus injections or anything like that, and just clean up the
little scratches and puncture wounds that she received through the
nappy."

The Daily Mailreports
that staff at the resort had already been looking for the dingo as it
had been stealing rubbish from the local tip and becoming more bold with
guests.

The paper adds that it is believed the animal was captured and put down following the incident. - Travel.

April 11, 2016 - CONGO - The question I keep getting when I tell people that I jumped into Nyiragongo, an active volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo is: "What did you do to the mountain!?"

It's an odd question, but it makes sense when you realize that Nyiragongo is suddenly undergoing a new, more active phase. And it's got the volcanologists at the Goma Observatory worried.

New activity in the crater over the last few weeks has spurred the
scientists into action as a new vent has opened up on the ledge just
above the lava lake. This was preceded by a series of earthquakes that
knocked large rocks off the crater walls that I had only recently
scaled.

The ledge that the vent opened on is the one that I didn't make it down
to, but the rest of the team did. However, I did stand directly above
the area in which it opened, but, at the time, I took no notice of the
nondescript ground far below me. I had zero inkling that less then 10
days after I left, magma would boil out of a newly formed crack in the
earth.

The vent has formed on the side of the caldera closest to the city of
Goma at the base of the mountain. In addition, new fumoroles (gas and
steam vents) have opened up on the flank of the volcano close to where
lava erupted in the 2002 eruption. In that eruption, 147 people lost
their lives and over a third of Goma was destroyed.

The eruption was not explosive like Mount St. Helens, but
instead, effusive like Mount Kilauea in Hawaii. During the eruption of
Nyiragongo, lava flowed down the slopes from cracks in the side of the
mountain at speeds that reached 100 km/h. The chemical composition of
the rock makes the lava extremely liquid.

The concern right now is that this active phase could be a signal that a new eruption is imminent.

Since the 2002 eruption, the city has expanded, but still lacks basic
infrastructure that would allow quick evacuation. Goma simply is not a
city that can be evacuated fast.

When I was there, only a few roads were fully paved and those were
within the city core. The sprawling conglomeration of tin roofed shacks
and cinder block buildings stretched haphazardly in every direction.
Despite the efforts to rebuild the city after the long civil war, it is
functional but struggling. Evacuation is simply not an option. This is
why observation and early warning are critical to survival in the city.

The proximity of the city to the mountain is why Nyiragongo has been
declared a Decade Volcano. These are 16 volcanoes identified by the
International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's
Interior (IAVCEI) as being worthy of particular study in light of their
history of large, destructive eruptions and proximity to populated
areas. Essentially, it's a list of the most dangerous volcanoes on the
planet.

The greater danger lurks under the water of Lake Kivu. Goma sprawls out
along the northern shore of the lake and deep in its depths is a massive
amount of carbon dioxide that is slowly building thanks to the volcano.

Think of it like a pop bottle with the top on. Open it up and a bit of
gas may fizz up. Now, shake that bottle and pop the top. The resulting
eruption of gas and liquid will end up soaking the room and you.

Lake Kivu is similar, only on a far more vast scale. The weight of the
water above the gas-saturated deep layers acts as a top, keeping the gas
in solution. However, if the concentration of carbon dioxide builds to a
critical level, it could all come out of the lake at once.

It is an eerie feeling to see these pictures of the Nyiragongo crater
and realize that I was standing on a volcano that was mere moments from
stirring to life. And a terrifying feeling that I may end up returning
to a city that is slowly being engulfed in a new eruption of burning,
liquid rock. - The Weather Network.

April 11, 2016 - ALASKA - After a period of heavy rains, about 200 million metric tons of rock
tumbled down a remote Southeast Alaska mountain. The massive landslide,
lasting about 60 seconds, occurred on October 17, 2015, and landed on
the toe of Tyndall Glacier and into Taan Fiord in Icy Bay, Alaska.

The event generated a local megatsunami that sheared trees more
than 152.4 meters (500 feet) up on a peninsula within the fiord. It was
big enough to register at the nearest tidal gauge 155 km (96.3 miles)
away. For comparison, the 2011 tsunami in Japan reached about 39.6
meters (130 feet) above sea level.

This event, now estimated as the biggest nonvolcanic landslide, by volume, in North America's written history, was registered
by special seismograms monitored by the Global CMT Project at
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory whose seismologists Göran Ekström and
Colin Stark have invented a new technique that uses seismic waves to
detect landslides in remote areas where they might otherwise go
unrecorded.

Since winter snows hid the damage generated by the tsunami it
took several months to see the extent of the damage. Upon hearing a
report from a pilot colleague that the landslide area of Icy Bay was
free of snow, glaciologist Chris Larsen of the University of Alaska
Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute flew there in his Cessna 180. Larsen
used a camera system mounted in his plane to make a high-resolution map
of the landslide and the path of the megatsunami.

"It almost blows away everything in the historical record except for Lituya Bay," Larsen said. "It's really a unique event to have a tsunami 100 meters (328 feet) high.If it was September or any time in the summer, the wave could have gotten a fishing boat or two.

"The
Lituya Bay landslide, Larsen referred to, occurred in 1958 after a
powerful M8.0 earthquake. The wave that followed ripped spruce from 518 m
(1 700 feet) up a mountain slope and left trimlines in the bay that are
visible today.

Icy Bay and places like it will have more landslides as time goes on,
Larsen said. Warmer temperatures melt more glacial ice that buttress
hillsides. When the ice melts, oversteepened slopes will fail. Sometimes
it takes a big rain or an earthquake to shake them down.

"These megatsunamis are infrequent in the historical record but will most likely increase," Larsen added. - The Watchers.

1 dead after floods in Saudi Arabia, Qatar sees 1 year of rain in 1 day

Seasonal storms brought heavy rain to Qatar and central and eastern parts of Saudi Arabia on 25 November 2015.

Doha,
Qatar, recorded more than a year’s worth of rain in one day. One person
has been reported as killed in the floods in Riyadh Region, Saudi
Arabia in what is the third deadly flood event to hit the country in the
last 4 weeks.

Saudi Arabia

The state-run Saudi Press
Agency reported earlier today that seasonal storms brought heavy
rainfall in central and eastern areas of the country, causing severe
flooding in Riyadh and Al-Qassim Regions.Saudi Arabia civil
defence report that 1 person has died in the floods in the province of
Rimah, Riyadh Region, which is located about 120 kilometres north-east
of the capital Riyadh.

Schools have been closed, roads blocked and
in some cases flooding has forced drivers to abandon their vehicles.
Saudi Arabia civil defence say they have responded to dozens of
emergency calls. The city of Buraidah, Al-Qassim Region, is reported as
one of the worst hit.

Parts
of Qatar, including Doha, also saw heavy rainfall and floods. Qatar
Meteorology Department say at least 80.8 mm of rain fell at Hamad
International Airport in Doha, the highest ever recorded at that
location and more than Doha would typically see in a whole year.

According to WMO figures, 3.3 mm is the typical monthly average for November and the total yearly average is around 75 mm.

The
floods caused major problems for drivers. Qatar’s Interior Ministry
warned drivers of the dangers of driving in floods and severe weather.
No deaths or injuries have been reported in Qatar.

Some flooding
was reported at Doha’s new $17 billion Hamad international airport.
Social media photos and videos showed water pouring in from a leaking
roof. However, flights were operating normally despite the weather
conditions.

Floods in Malawi leave at least 12 dead and force thousands to evacuate

Heavy rains which have persisted in the Northern and Central regions of
Malawi for several days have led to fatal floods in some low-lying
areas.

At least ten people are feared dead and hundreds of families
displaced. A number of buildings and homes were also reported to have
collapsed due to the floods. Many road networks were flooded and
rendered impassable.Mzuzu

According to Malawi Broadcasting Corporation
(MBC), two people suffered serious injuries when a wall of their house
collapsed after heavy rain. Both victims were taken to Mzuzu Central
Hospital but both later died. Hospital administrator confirmed the
deaths of a ten year old and an eleven month old child.

There are also unconfirmed reports that as many as 10 people have died as a result of floods in districts of Mzuzu.

Karonga

Local radio station, Capital FM Malawi reported earlier today that "over
958 households in Karonga have been relocated to safer areas following
continued heavy rains and flooding in the district".

Local media have reported more than seventy families have been left homeless after floods in Karonga.

Relief efforts and help for flood victims appear to have been limited so far. Talking to Malawi 24,
District Commissioner for Karonga Rosemary Moyo has expressed worry
over the lack of interest from organisations to help the displaced
people.

"We are worried that no organisation has come in to assist us as people who have been affected lack a lot of things," said Moyo.
143 mm of rain in 24 hours - more rain forecast for Lakeshore and Northern Areas

According to the 5-day weather forecast by the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services, heavy rains are forecast to continue in the northern areas and areas around Lake Malawi.

Malawi suffered some of the worst floods in its history during January
2015. At the peak of the 2015 floods 245 square miles of the country was
under water and 120,000 households displaced.

Four rescued from floods after record rainfall in Las Vegas

Record rain caused flash floods in the Las Vegas Valley area on
Saturday, 09 April. Local fire fighters were called out to rescue at
least 4 people who were trapped in the flood waters.

At around
13:00 local time, National Weather Service (NWS) Las Vegas issued a
flash flood warning for much of the Vegas valley until later that day.
NWS said:

“Wait floods out; avoid flooded roadways!”

The recent heavy rainfall has already made April 2016 the third wettest April on record in Las Vegas.

Flood Rescues

Clark
County Fire Department officials said they responded to several people
trapped by storm waters. In a statement, they said that a man became
trapped in the flood control channel under the Dean Martin overpass by
raising water from a heavy rain. Personnel from Engine 11 lowered
ladders to the victim and rigged safety lines downstream as a safety
precaution in case the victim was swept away. The victim was rescued
uninjured.Rescue team later found 3 other victims who were
trapped in the same flood control channel. Emergency teams were able to
safely rescue all three adults, although one sustained a minor leg
injury and was was transported to Spring Valley Hospital.

Clark County Fire Department said:

“At
this time of year it is important to remind everyone to remain clear of
flood control channels and flooded roads. Remember as little 12 inches
of moving water can float a vehicle”.

Record Rainfall

NWS Las Vegas said that 0.81 inches of rain fell on 09 April, beating the previous record for that day of 0.17” of 1947.NWS
Vegas also said that as much as 1.03” of rain has fallen so far this
April, making it the third wettest April on record so far, behind 1965
(2.44”) and 1941 (1.68”).

High tides and huge waves bring flooding to southwest UK

A combination of high spring tides and winds of 65 mph (120 km/h)
caused coastal flooding in parts of Cornwall and Devon in south west England
yesterday, Sunday 10 April, 2016. Also over the weekend, high tides and
heavy rain conspired to flood wide areas of Cork, Ireland.

Southwest England

Huge
waves crashed into towns and villages along the coast. The UK’s Met
Office issued a warning about the significant impacts from coastal
flooding along the south Cornwall coast and on the Isles of Scilly on
Sunday morning. At one point on Sunday, 29 flood warnings – the second
highest category – and 37 flood alerts had been issued by the
Environment Agency, mostly for parts of Cornwall and Devon.The
Environment Agency closely monitored the situation and had teams out
checking and operating coastal flood defences. Timely warnings and
preventative action meant that damage was kept to a minimum and no
fatalities or injuries have been reported.

Some flooding was
reported in the Cornish towns of Penzance, Kingsand, St Mawes,
Porthleven and Mousehole. High waves overtopped sea defences in Exmouth,
Devon. Flooding was also reported in Dawlish, Devon, after waves topped
sea defences. Parts of the sea wall and railway lines in Dawlish were
destroyed by waves and coastal flooding during a storm in February 2014.

April 11, 2016 - ENGLAND - The scene of engine houses against the backdrop of a crisp blue sky
might be fairly common in Cornwall, but what is not is the small white
bird nestling in the hedgerow.

This snowy owl, which was snapped by photographer Adam Whitehouse, was probably trying to gather its bearingsafter flying way off course.

The eye-catching birds are native to Arctic regions in North America and Eurasiarather than the tip of West Cornwall.

Mr Whitehouse said the pretty white visitor stopped off for a spell at
St Just on April 4 and was pictured here just above Kenidjack Valley.
He said it was not the only rare visitor of late and in
the same few days a number of other Arctic birds have been seen in the
area, including a rare Gyr falcon in the same location and an Iceland
gull on the beach.

April 11, 2016 - DELAWARE, UNITED STATES - A double rainbow is an awesome meteorological phenomenon on its own.

But
when mammatus clouds appear at the same time... It becomes epic.

This
is what happened in the sky of Newark, Delaware on April 7, 2016.
In a double rainbow, a second arc is seen outside the primary arc, and
has the order of its colours reversed, with red on the inner side of the
arc.

Mammatus are pouch-like cloud structures and a rare example of clouds in
sinking air.

Sometimes very ominous in appearance, mammatus clouds are
harmless and do not mean that a tornado is about to form.